Light and Love
by melbelle10
Summary: She traded herself to save her best friend from a man she loathes. Can she look past that and help him find himself? Can he win her over and learn to love? Based on The Beauty and the Beast. DMHG
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I know this plot has been attempted before with Draco and Hermione but I decided to try my own take on it. Please read and review! Happy reading.

* * *

Once upon a time, in a magical, far away land, a baby boy was born to an noble family. They baby brought great joy to all who laid eyes upon him, but it was a dark time and the land was thrust into upheaval. They boy's beautiful smile and great heart was looked down upon by his powerful father. He was taught to scowl, disrespect, and taunt anyone who his father and his father's master didn't approve of. His mother, desperate to have her happy, loving baby boy saved from the cruel, dark fate of his father, sought help from a powerful wizard who gave her an enchanted dragon. The glass the dragon was made from held a powerful magic that would bring calm and joy to the boy so long as he kept it. the dragon would also help the boy find love and happiness once more. his mother gratefully took the enchanted glass and told her son that so long as he kept the trinket with him, he would always be safe from the dark. 

"Harry?" Hermione's voice was tentative as she called out for her friend. Her footsteps echoed loudly down the long, dank corridor though she tread very lightly, ears straining to hear any sign of her beloved friend. She knew if he were in here she'd have to get him out quickly. The old and dark magic contained in this castle was palpable and she couldn't risk allowing Harry to stay in here for any longer.

He had gone missing just a few days ago and though Ron told her not to worry, that he probably just needed to get away, she knew deep down that something was terribly wrong. She could feel him calling out to her for help. A simple tracking spell didn't work and it was only with an ancient locating spell that she could even begin to gauge his whereabouts. He was surprisingly close, somewhere about one hundred and fifty kilometers from London. With nothing but her wand, her wand as a compass and tracking device, and her gut she found herself at the near ruins of Malfoy Manor. She was surprised how easily she managed to get inside, the defensive wards around the property probably diminished now that all of the Malfoy family was gone. It was as dark and gloomy as she had always envisioned it and knew that a place like this could do harm to the state Harry was in—he was still recovering from the battle that brought Voldemort to his demise though he wouldn't admit it. The battle had spanned over two entire days and left half of the United Kingdom in ruins. It was three months later but Harry was still trying to regenerate after the magical loss he suffered bringing down the darkest and one of the most powerful wizards since Grindelwald.

She made her way down to what she assumed had been the dungeons. There were chains attached to certain walls and a few bizarre looking devices hanging from the ceiling and walls.

"Harry?" She called out again, softly. The very feeling the stone walls emanated made Hermione feel the need to be somber and almost reverent. A small groan came from a barred room towards the back of the dungeon. She ran the rest of the way and gasped at Harry's bruised and beaten form lying on the stone floor. "Oh Merlin, Harry!" The bars didn't even creak as they flew off the hinges responding to her frazzled and worried mind needing desperately to get Harry out of here.

"'Mione?" A groan escaped his purpled and swollen face and Hermione knew immediately that his jaw had been broken. She knelt down next to his limp body and held his head gently against her. She looked over his naked form, too worried to even blush and felt her eyes sting with oncoming tears as she took in the odd angles at which his leg and ankles were, no doubt due to them, also being broken.

"My God Harry what happened?" A sob, or a moan, she wasn't quite sure and she didn't quite care was his only response. "We need to get you out of here, Harry. I'm just going to mend you up." Hermione's wand was out and traced over every inch of his body, a faint yellow glow seeping into his skin and vanishing all traces of his bruises and cuts. She pointed her wand at his jaw, and then at his leg and ankles whispering long strands of complicated Latin, healing his broken limps and joints with an ancient spell that Poppy taught her after Ron had broken almost all of his ribs during a raid for a horcrux. The spell took a lot out of someone when just mending one break, but mending three made Hermione feel light headed and drained even with her high magical potency.

"'Mione you've got to get out of here." Harry's voice said urgently in her ear as he struggled to remain upright.

"I'm not leaving without you Harry. Just give me a minute to clear my head-"

"No Hermione go _now_!" Hermione shook her head at both Harry and the fog that clouded her brain.

"What are you doing in _my house_?" roared a voice that made the both of them jump.

"Leave her alone! Just let her go and you can finish me off." Harry pleaded, trying desperately to shield Hermione who was feeling even more lightheaded than before. Her pulse was pounding at her temples and she could barely hear anything but she could feel the tension and fear in Harry.

"You shouldn't have come here Potter." The unknown man said his voice dripping with malice. "Get our Granger." The man said and turning to walk away. Harry let out a breath and hugged Hermione close to him.

"Go on Hermione, get out of here."

"No Harry I'm not going to leave you!" She was gripping him tightly, as much to keep herself balanced as to show Harry how much she loved him.

"Go Hermione, leave me! Please just go!" He pushed at her, urging her to run far, far away.

"Please! Please let him go!" The man apparated into the small room with a soft pop and looked down stoically at the pair. Hermione couldn't quite see straight so the man before her was nothing but a silhouette. He was tall and imposing but she didn't get a strong negative feeling from him. Harry, however was shaking with anger and she knew he wanted so desperately to kill whoever his torturer was.

"I can't do that Granger."

"Hermione just go! Please-"

"I'll take his place!" Her proclamation was met with silence. Harry was shaking his head vehemently at her side and she could hear the man's breath hitch.

"Hermione NO!"

"Wh-what? You would really do that?"

"I-" She started but was caught off by Harry gripping her arms tightly and shaking her harshly.

"Hermione I won't let you! Just go!" She reached up and put her hands on his chest soothingly. He stopped shaking her but continued to grip her tightly.

"I love you Harry. You have a lot of saving left to do." She leaned in and kissed him tenderly on the cheek, their tears mingling in the process. "I will take his place if you let him go."

"I will-" Hermione sighed in relief and kissed Harry's cheek once more. "But you must swear on your honor as a witch that you will stay here forever." She instantly tensed at the words. Forever. He wanted her to stay his prisoner forever.

"No Hermione. No just go and I'll stay. He'll beat the pulp out of me and then get bored and let me off. Just go and-"

"You have my word."

"Malfoy NO!" Hermione gasped as she heard him cast an _obliviate_ and suddenly Harry was gone.

"Malfoy?" Her eyes began to refocus and sure enough the awful, bigoted, ferret stood before her his signature scowl gone and in it's place a look completely devoid of any emotion at all. "But you're-"

"Dead?" He shook his head slightly. Hermione shook her head in disbelief. Malfoy was alive, Harry was gone, and she was here in the Malfoy dungeon to be a prisoner for the rest of her life. Visions of Harry and Ron, her parents, her letter of recognition from the Ministry as well as an invitation to join the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures as the head of a new division for the Progression of the Handling and Labor Ethics of Magical Creatures swam through her head. Her dreams were al coming true and she was going to spend the rest of her life happy and with her two best friends in the whole world. And now, she was never going to see any happiness ever again.

"You just sent him away. I didn't even get to say goodbye you bastard! I'll never see my best friends again and I couldn't even say good bye." She let the sobs course through her and sobbed out her sorrow. Draco couldn't stand to watch. He left her and apparated to his private quarters. He sat down in front of the fireplace folding his hands and leaning in towards the dancing flames. How did his life and up so screwed up? He never envisioned anything like this. He blindly followed his father's directions and did everything that was expected of him. He became a heartless bastard, taunting and teasing anyone who didn't fit the mold his father labeled as right. He embraced the ideals that got both of his parents killed and now here he was, nineteen years old without any family, friends, or any semblance of a life. His eyes found the glass dragon sitting on the mantle. It was given to him by his mother when he was maybe four years old. It spit fire of different colors illuminating an otherwise pitch black room and eased him to sleep back in the days when he was afraid of the dark. He still kept it now as a reminder of what his mother once was- a caring, loving, beautiful woman. This is how he preferred to remember her, not as the depressed, woman who lost all her life and luster because of his damned father. She was such a wonderful woman when he was young, almost like Granger. Granger. She was in his dungeon crying her eyes out because he forced her to a life as his prisoner. Why? He should have let them both go, he _knew_ he should have and yet he still made the compromise.

"Master Draco, sir?" Linky, one of Draco's most trusted house elves, asked tentatively from his side. Linky, Coggy, and Piddy had all been the houseelves in charge of serving Draco since he was a baby, and now, they were head of only a few house elves left on the estate.

"What is it Linky?" He asked, his voice tense and strained.

"Would Master Draco sir like Linky to set up the Mistress' bedroom, sir?" Draco tilted his head towards the elf who had practically raised him and raised his eyebrows.

"Why?"

"The Mistress cannot sleep in the dungeon Draco, sir." Draco nodded tersely before standing.

"Very well, Linky. Please have dinner ready for us in the dining room." Linky nodded and with a snap apparated to fix a room for Hermione. Draco apparated down to the dungeons to find Hermione curled up on the stone floor, slightly shaking and still crying.

"I'll take you to your room now, Granger." She sat up abruptly, scurrying about on the floor until she faced him. She was tense and if looks could kill, Draco was sure he'd be with his parents once again.

"But I thought I was your prisoner." Her voice was terse and cold, but also slightly confused.

"Well if you want to sleep on the floor of the dungeon fine, otherwise, follow me." He began walking, not bothering to wait for her. He almost stopped walking when he didn't hear her follow but soon the sound of her footsteps racing to catch up echoed throughout the corridor. He figured he might as well walk and give her a slight tour instead of just apparating her to her room. They climbed up stone steps that wound up seemingly endlessly, the only illumination coming from random sconces on the walls. They finally stepped through an archway that creaked as stones replaced it leaving a stone wall behind. A tapestry fell into place over where the archway once was and a black knight nodded to her as he rode away on his black steed. She turned back to follow Draco and took in the expanse of the house. It was dimly lit, again, the only illumination coming from wall sconces. She couldn't really make out anything, but noticed several portraits sleeping hung along the main corridor. They reached a grand staircase at the foyer and she looked longingly at the front door, wishing escape would be as simple as just running out that door and away until she got back home. But of course, it wasn't that simple at all. He followed him up the staircase and they took a left and she noticed he didn't even glance towards the right of the hallway.

"What's down that way?" She asked pointing at the other end.

"That's forbidden. You will not go into any of those rooms, understand?" She nodded solemnly. "The rest of the house is at your disposal." Her head snapped up at this and looked for any sign that he was making this whole thing worse with teasing freedom in her face. He, however, continued walking, his focus never wavering from directly in front of him.

"But-"

"Don't make me regret it Granger." She nodded and continued to follow him. They came to another staircase and Hermione was beginning to think that they were never going to get there. He stopped at large French doors and opened them. She looked behind her quickly and noticed that at the other end of the rather long hallway was a matching set of doors but she turned her attention away from that and tentatively ventured into the room. She gasped out loud at the magnificence of the room. Surely this couldn't be the room she would reside in. A giant bed sat near the far wall with deep burgundy colors and sheer burgundy drapes canopied over the sides. A large wardrobe stood at the corner near the large bay windows that gave her a breathtaking view of the night sky and the forest that sat at the end of the grounds. She walked up to it and looked up, then down at the well kept garden that bloomed right below her room. She walked over towards the wardrobe and noticed that next it was a gorgeous antique vanity with dozens of pretty bottles scattered over the surface of it. She turned and saw a fireplace across the room from her bed that was lit and bathed the room in a soft glow. Draco cleared his throat before pointing to a door over to the left.

"That's your bathroom. I'm sure you'll find everything you need but, um, if you need anything just ask Drory, she'll be in charge of tending to any of your needs."

"Yes Mistress, Drory will help Mistress." Hermione jumped, startled, never noticing the house elf even apparating in.

"Right then. Dinner will be served in about half-an-hour. You will join me." Draco turned and left before Hermione could say anything. She bit her bottom lip as it trembled, the tears beginning to well up in her again.

* * *

Well, there's the Prologue. Please let me know if I should continue with this. Thanks! 

Mel


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the cute house elves I created haha.

Thanks to Dizi 85 and fallenxoangel! I honestly would've chucked this whole idea out the window if it weren't for your reviews.

Please read and review kids! Happy reading...

* * *

Harry woke up feeling extremely groggy. He looked around and found he was in his room at Grimmauld Place, but he was completely naked. He never slept in the buff. Last thing he remembered was getting sloshed with Ron at Seamus' pub opening, but surely he hadn't drank _that_ much. And why was he naked? Even in a drunken state, Harry didn't think he'd ever bring some random bird home for a shag—he just wasn't the type for one night stands. He didn't really remember anything, so maybe he did? Well it didn't really matter, he felt like he was in desperate need of a shower and if the foul taste in his mouth was any indication, he needed to brush his teeth. When he got up, though, he noticed that his ankles were really sore and somewhat swollen. 

"How the bloody hell did that happen?" He shrugged and limped over to his bath deciding he would just give Hermione a ring later—she would be able to help him sort out everything, she always saved him he thought with a smile. He stopped, a strange nagging feeling coming over him at the thought of his head. He thought back to the last time he saw her, it was at the pub. She seemed to have a good enough time, that is, when she wasn't trying to avoid Ron. He shrugged once again deciding he'd talk to her soon enough. Besides, he thought with a laugh, Hermione always said he took his premonition like feelings too seriously.

* * *

"Mistress would like to take a bath now, Mistress? Drory drew a bath for Miss." Hermione sniffled before looking up at the older house elf.

"Drory, thank you, but you really don't have to serve me." Hermione sat up and looked at the elf. She was quite petite, even for a house elf. She had big green eyes, and a big smile that practically took over her face, that is, until Hermione suggested she didn't want Drory to wait on her.

"Drory is sorrys Miss. Drory will have a new elf to serves you Mistress if Drory has done something wrongs, Miss." Drory was holding back tears at this point and Hermione felt awful. For the life of her she couldn't fathom how on earth these creatures were brainwashed into thinking it was _right_ to serve someone hand and foot without kind of reimbursement.

"No Drory it isn't you, please don't cry. I'm sure you're wonderful at what you do." At this the elf bounced up on her heel and her broad smile returned. Hermione bit her lip, not quite sure how to tell Drory that she didn't want _any_ elves to serve her because she was morally opposed to such treatment of elves. If she wasn't here, she would be getting ready for bed so that she could be wide awake and ready for her first day working at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures heading the Progression of the Handling and Labor Ethics of Magical Creatures division. She had so many innovative ideas that could really bring elves right to the front burner now that Voldermort was gone. She sighed, knowing she couldn't think about that or else she might start round one million of her sob session.

"Drory do you _enjoy_ working here?" The elf nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, Mistress Drory likes it here very much." Hermione eyed the elf suspiciously. How could it be that this elf liked it here so much, yet Dobby had loathed every minute he spent within these very walls?

"Drory what about Dobby?" She asked without even thinking. She knew that elves had to be loyal to their masters and by not doing so it was considered almost sinful. She winced as she realized she was basically outing the poor mistreated elf to his former coworker as a traitor.

"Drory's Dobby, Miss, never knew the kind Masters and Mistress. Dobby, Miss, knew Masters and Mistress after they swore to the Dark Lord, Miss."

"What do you mean _your_ Dobby, Drory?" The older elf shook her head sadly.

"Dobby is Drory's son, Miss. Drory had Dobby when Masters and Mistress still very kind, Miss, but when Dobby start serving, Miss, theys change, Miss." Drory's big green eyes glinted in the dim light and Hermione could feel how much she missed her son.

"Drory why do you want to serve so badly?" She asked getting back to the point of trying to treat her as an equal.

"Drory not understand Miss."

"Well," she said biting her lip, trying to find the right words in her head before speaking and potentially insulting her. "Why do you enjoy it?"

"Because that is how Drory is born, Miss. Drory born to serve like some born to sing or write. Drory good at it and Drory like it very much. And Drory loves Master Draco, like all the house elves loves Master Draco."

Hermione nodded slowly, taking in the elf's words. She felt that odd cloudiness come over her mind once again and tried to shake it off.

"Drory?"

"Yes Mistress?"

"I think I'll go take that bath now." Drory bounced into action, nodding the entire way as she shooed Hermione into the bathroom, her smile broader than ever.

* * *

"Where is she?!" Draco paced back and forth along the side of the enormous dining table that sat in the middle of the Malfoy dining room. There was a fire roaring in the hearth at the far end of the room and it roared with every frustrated sigh or irritated word he uttered.

"Master, sir, Miss must be quite exhausted." Linky said cautiously from the post he, Coggy and Piddy had taken up near the entrance to the kitchen. They watched their Master pace back and forth since he arrived at the dining room to find Hermione had not yet arrived. Though the three faithful servants trusted and loved their master, at times when he was annoyed or mad he eerily reminded them of his father—that is, the dark version of his father.

"So? I told her dinner was in half an hour." He growled.

"Perhaps Miss forgot?" Offered Piddy with a slight tut-tut when he whipped his head and glared at her. Piddy had been his nanny elf since he was born and he respected her above all others elves. He sighed and relaxed a bit and mumbling an apology.

"Coggy will go fetch Miss, Master." Draco slumped down in his chair and buried his face in his hands after Coggy apparated up to Hermione's chambers.

_Why do I even care if she joins me for bloody dinner? She's nothing to me. Why did I even keep her here?!_ He sighed as a calm began to creep up his spine and relaxed his shoulders and neck. _Because she's the only one who can help you_.

"Drory?" Hermione called out. She just finished her bath and came out to find the black pants and black long sleeve shirt she had been wearing gone from wear she'd tossed them on the bed earlier.

"Yes Mistress?" The elf appeared in an instant and looked extremely eager to help Hermione in any way she could.

"I, er, well I don't have any clothes." She pulled the towel she had wrapped around herself tighter feeling extremely anxious about what kind of awful attire Malfoy was bound to have her wear.

"Mistress has her wardrobe Mistress. Drory show you." The elf bounced over to the wardrobe at far corner and pointed to it. "Mistress supposeds to think what Mistress wants and wardrobes make it, Mistress." Hermione looked at Drory who was smiling hugely then back at the wardrobe. Just think of what she wants? She wanted something comfortable. She took a breath then reached forward and opened the door gasping as she found a red lace teddy hanging there. Okay not that comfortable. She closed the door rather strongly, grimacing She thought of something more along the lines of sweats and a shirt before opening the door and smiling in relief when she found exactly that inside. She looked back to find that Drory had left her to change in private and put on the white bra and panties laid at the bottom of the wardrobe. She finished dressing and walked back to the bed where all her things had been. She knew her clothes were taken away but she had hoped she would still find her wand there.

"Um, Drory?" She couldn't remember where her wand had gone. She last had it with her when she healed most of Harry's injuries—Gods it felt like that was ages ago but it couldn't have been, in actuality, an hour. She sighed before looking amongst her room again, wondering what on earth had happened with it.

"Yes Mistress?"

"Drory what happened to my wand?" She asked looking around the room once again. She sighed and looked down at the elf who was staring down at the oriental carpet. "Drory?"

"Mistress couldn't keep her wand."

"Draco took it?" Drory started so pace a bit, shaking her head in her hands and slapping her forehead rather violently. Hermione knelt down and grabbed the distraught elf, holding her arms down at her side. "Drory you didn't do anything wrong. You didn't betray your Master."

"Drory not supposed to say anything Miss." She said shaking her head.

"You didn't say anything, Drory. It wasn't very difficult to sort out." Drory looked up at Hermione, her green eyes wide and glassy. "You didn't do anything wrong Drory." The elf nodded and Hermione let her go, watching as Drory took a few calming breaths before looking about the room, obviously quite anxious to clean something.

"Did Mistress need anything in particular, Mistress?"

"Well," she said, reaching up and finger combing her curls, "I needed to cast a relaxing spell on my hair."

"Mistress there is a serum for that on your vanity, Mistress." Hermione looked over at the antique piece and couldn't help but gravitate towards it. It was made of wood and stained slightly to make it look almost iridescent. Small flowers and intricate vines were carved into the legs and around the frame of the mirror flowing with a soft, pearl pink.

"This was Mistress Narcissy's vanity, Mistress. Mistress had it when Mistress was a young girl. Mistress Narcissy told me it was very special." Hermione sat at the matching chair and gazed over the pretty bottles. She picked up a crystal one with an amber fluid inside. Drory nodded at her and Hermione took that as her cue. She poured a bit of the viscous serum into her palm and rubbed it between her hands. She smoothed it over her damp locks and combed it through with her fingers. She inhaled the sweet scent of cherry blossoms and vanilla and watched as the liquid instantly tamed her auburn locks—soft curls cascading down her back.

Hermione stared at her reflection, teeth toying with her lower lip. How was she going to be able to do this? Draco Bloody Malfoy. She hated the git, he hated her how would she be able to spend eternity with him? Her whole life, her whole world, was gone now. She loved Harry deeply but why the fuck did she give up everything for him? She cursed at herself for thinking such things—if her were here right now he might be dead. But why was she being treated so well when Harry had nearly been beaten to death? She closed her eyes and took a few deep, soothing breaths. She wiped away at a few tears that managed to leak out and gazed at herself in the mirror once more. She looked around at the magnificent room and sighed. She, at least, got to live in quite a bit of luxury. She laughed at the thought before breaking out into tears. Who cared if she had expensive furnishings? She couldn't see her friends again. She couldn't _live her life_! What did anything matter if she was shut away from everything she loved?

"Mistress?"

Hermione looked over at Drory who was looking across the room at the door. She got up and walked around the bed finding another house elf with graying hair and a bit on the rotund side standing there.

"Master requests your presence at dinner, Mistress."

"Oh right. Would you, er, I don't quite know—" She grimaced a bit, her lip in her teeth once again, as she tried to remember which way Malfoy had pointed out as being the right way to the dining room.

"Coggy shall escort you, Mistress." The rather haughty elf looked straight at Hermione not showing an ounce of timidity or reluctance, something Hermione was most unused to in the matter of house elves. She smiled at Drory and walked up to Coggy feeling a familiar tug at her navel and squeezing of her entire body. She tottered a bit as she found herself in a fast dining room, Malfoy standing in the corner looking at her coldly. Yet again, though, she was shocked to notice an absence of his usual ugly sneer.

"You're late, Granger." He said walking over to the head of the table and sitting down eyes intent on her the whole while.

"I- I…" he quirked a brow at her lack of words and she felt herself straighten and fix a defiant glare on her face. She had never succumbed to Malfoy before and she wasn't about to start now. "You said 'about half an hour' Malfoy. You never specified." She nearly spit his name out and he barely flinched before putting an angry snarl on his own face. He kept a steady glare on her before sighing and taking a drink from his goblet.

"You may sit Granger. I thought you would've realized this is where you sit to eat. They do have dining tables in other places other than the Great Hall." Hermione felt herself fume at the demeaning comment towards her intelligence and Draco smirked as she plopped down at her place opposite him in a huff.

Hermione didn't speak or even look up from her plate that appeared in front of her when she sat down. She pushed around her mashed potatoes and shepherd's pie around on her plate. Certainly if she attempted to eat anything at all she would probably throw it up anyway. After a few more tense moments Draco sniggered from across the table. Her eyes shot up to him and her glare intensified as he continued to laugh. He looked up at her and laughed harder at her face which, in turn, caused her face to flush in anger and her scowl to become even more pronounced.

"Honestly Granger, being such a know-it-all one would think you had at least one interesting thing to say over dinner."

"I have nothing to say to _you_ Malfoy."

"Oh so you planned on taking a vow of silence while you are here, then?" She merely raised a brow to his inquiry before returning to her previous endeavor of forming a replica of the Australia's Ayres Rock out of her potatoes and pie.

"Why did you even bother taking Potter's place?" He asked coldly.

"Because I love him!" She fired back. "He's my best friend." His eyes narrowed at her and an angry scowl marred his aristocratic features.

"Is that the only reason, Granger?" She looked up at him her chocolate browns boring a whole into his forehead. "Been giving it to the hero then Granger?" Her eyes widened in fury as she stood up with such force that her chair fell from behind her and she slammed her palms down on the table making it tremble significantly.

"You foul, dreadful-"

"Piddy?" He called out calmly, interrupting Hermione's little outburst. The matronly elf appeared and looked upon the scene with, what appeared to be, a bit of irritation. "Please escort Miss Granger back to her chambers." He rose from the table with his goblet and stood at the hearth and stared into the flames without so much as a backward glance towards Hermione. Piddy nodded as she took Hermione by the hand and apparating her back upstairs. Draco, upon hearing the sound of their apparition, threw back the remainder of his wine and chucked his goblet at the fire with a roar. Where the fuck did that question come from? And why did he care so bloody much if she had been with Potter or not? He ran his hands through the silvery mop atop his hand pulling at the strands before slumping down the wall and to his knees. He was so fucking screwed up and so completely in the shit.

* * *

"Harry! Where the bloody hell have you been?" Ron asked as he pulled Harry into his flat. After the war and receiving the sizable reward from the wizardring community at large he bought a sizable flat in the City and spent most of his time partying with a bit of work at the Ministry in between.

"I dunno Ron. Last bloody thing I remember was Seamus' pub opening." He said plopping down on the couch, the only place to sit in the barely furnished flat. Ron insisted he'd get to the petty things like decorating later on. For now, he was eating up all the attention and hubbub attending three to four parties every night and meeting tons of new faces.

"That was three nights ago, Harry! Must've inhaled the firewhiskey for you not to remember two days."

"I didn't drink _that _much Ron." Ron looked incredulously at him before going into the kitchen and fetching another bottle of firewhiskey and two tumblers.

"Well it doesn't matter, mate. Haven't seen you in two days, you've got a lot of catching up to do." He poured an ample amount of the liquid into each of the tumblers before handing one to Harry. He clinked his glass against Harry's before taking a few swigs. Harry followed suit and both grimaced at the burning that they never seemed to get used to.

"Bloody good thing you're back. Hermione nearly had a fit when you hadn't shown up for lunch the other day. I swear she's going to drive me absolutely mad-"

"Ron! Where is Hermione?" Harry asked concerned. He had tried to floo her at her flat but no one answered when he called out.

"Damned if I know mate. Bird doesn't tell me a bloody thing." He replied in a huff before sipping on more of his drink. Things between Ron and Hermione had been a bit strained since the end of the war. They had ended things during the Horcrux search and when everything was over and done with Ron had tried to get back together with her. She had said that they were two completely different people compared to who they were back in school. She said that things couldn't have worked out for them not matter how much either of them might have wanted them to. Suffice to say he wasn't terribly happy to get that reaction from her. Harry could tell, though, that he still had it in his head that they'd eventually work it out. "Anyway go on and finish your tumbler. I've got word on a shit hot party over at the West End—some kind of, what do Muggles call those things where people act out on a stage?"

"Play."

"Right, some kind of play opening. Apparently there's some big shot actor who's playing a starkers maniac all gaga over some horses or something like that so there's bound to be some shagtastic birds there." Harry shook his head but smiled nonetheless. Ron had nothing on his mind these days except partying and sex. He'd go just to please Ron but hang out on the sidelines before claiming a headache or something and skive off. He'd try and give Hermione another ring on her muggle mobile when he got home. He couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was off concerning his other best friend.

* * *

Well there's Chapter 1. Leave me nice reviews and I'll get Chapter 2 up ASAP. Please let me know if you're interested in this fic! 


End file.
